Netgear eyes Qatar

Networking provider Netgear has announced the opening of a local office in Qatar in order to strengthen its foothold in the Middle East market

February 01, 2007, 01:46 AM

Networking provider Netgear has announced the opening of a local office in Qatar in order to strengthen its foothold in the Middle East market. Adding to its existing office in the UAE, the vendor will use the Qatari facility to capitalise on growing demands for its products off the back of increased mobile phone and internet usage in the GCC.

Ahmad Zeidan, channel sales manager at Netgear Middle East, said: "We have achieved outstanding success in our Middle Eastern operations so far, registering US$2m in revenue since we opened our Dubai office more than six months ago. We also have established wide distribution channels covering KSA, Bahrain, Kuwait and Egypt, which underlines our ambitious expansion programme in the Middle East and our serious commitment to fulfilling the high market demands of the region."

According to reports from research provider Madar, Qatar has seen exceptional growth in its IT industry recently and is third in the Arab countries' ICT Use Index.

"Qatar is one of the world's top destinations for ICT investment at the moment as there is a gap in the market for high quality product providers and Netgear has the expertise, support and vision to become a dominant player," added Zeidan.

Netgear hopes the appointment of a local Qatari representative will help expand its regional presence by offering customers localised services to satisfy their networking requirements.

Netgear claims to have made a conscious decision to make Qatar its first Gulf post outside the UAE. The vendor states that it had considered expansion in many locations and chose Qatar because of its tremendous economic growth rate.

Netgear's current channel partners in Qatar include Jumbo Electronics and Al Jarir Bookstore. The research from Madar predicts demand for ICT products is likely to continue increasing as improved internet connectivity coupled with spending on PCs ushers in high levels of growth throughout the region.